


Wonderstruck

by profound-boning (farawaystardust)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Concert, Charlie Does Computer Magic, Dancer Dean, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Shy Castiel, Shy Dean, Social Media, Stalking Your Crush Via Social Media Can Be Effective, Taylor Swift - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-21
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-22 19:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4848146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/farawaystardust/pseuds/profound-boning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Cas is flabbergasted. He knows that in theory he has all the same limbs and musculature that can do all of the same motions, but watching them fly across the stage, he knows that these artists have something else that he could never hope to comprehend. He can only appreciate.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And appreciate he does.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wonderstruck

Castiel could not believe that Gabriel had talked him into this.

When his big brother had called to announce that he'd won a radio contest, Cas had congratulated him. Surely it would be something innocuous like free all you can eat wings or beer.

Instead, Gabe had won three floor seat tickets to Taylor Swift's current tour.

And that's how Cas wound up surrounded by screaming twelve- to eighteen-year-olds wearing face paint and tutus, not to mention Gabe and their sister Anna, who were both screaming just as loudly.

And this was only the opening act.

"Gabriel," Cas groans. "Why on Earth did I let you talk me into this?"

"C'mon, Cassie, lighten up!" Gabe turns to look at his sourpuss little brother, to whom he had given the seat directly next to the large runway that stretched from the main stage into the crowd. He really should be more grateful. Cas had just looked warily at the obviously heavy machinery.

The trio didn't have to wait long after the opening act had wrapped up before the lights dimmed again. The screaming rose to a roar as the show began.

And it really is a show, with visual effects and impressive lighting to complement the movement on stage. The backup dancers are stunning. All of them perfectly in synch, accenting lyrics or beats of the music, simultaneously supporting the singer as well as shining on their own. Cas is flabbergasted. He knows that in theory he has all the same limbs and musculature that can do all of the same motions but, watching them fly across the stage, he knows that these artists have something else that he could never hope to comprehend. He can only appreciate.

And appreciate he does.

There's one dancer in particular who he thinks is exceptionally beautiful, but Cas is two dozen rows back from the main stage where the men are currently running, leaping, and jumping off of lifts and each other.

With the next song they've switched costumes and set pieces. Their movement is like liquid filling a glass, all sharp angles until they move with incredible fluidity into the next pose. Cas is absolutely enthralled, so much so that he almost didn't notice when the song ended. Almost.

From his seat next to the runway, Cas now has a completely unobstructed view of the aforementioned exceptionally beautiful dancer who is at that very moment peeling off a vest and button down shirt.

The music has slowed way down and the lights are low. The dancer moves purposefully with an unhurried ease. Cas can't take his eyes off of him.

Clad only in white pants, Cas is really appreciating the dancer's legs with their well-defined muscles, the flat planes of his abdomen, the smooth skin of his chest, his broad shoulders, curving biceps, and impossibly sexy forearms. His muscles aren't hulking like a body builder, instead he's all lean lines and radiating strength from his core.

And then there's his face. His skin is tan all over like he spends plenty of time outdoors, and from this distance Cas can tell that he has freckles dusting his shoulders and cheekbones. His hair appears to be quite dark, but Cas is sure with the lights on the color is much lighter than his own. It's shorter on the sides than it is on top where it sits upright in seemingly effortless little spikes, and he's got expertly trimmed hair all along his insanely beautiful jawline. His long, straight nose is framed by a dimpled chin, perfectly shaped lips, and the brightest green eyes in the world. Cas is sure that eye color should be illegal.

And it's when those eyes meet his that Cas thinks he might actually have to thank Gabe for this.

The dancer meets Cas's eye when he does an especially flexible movement on the ground and Cas has to think carefully about all the pre-teens next to him. He may be going on twenty-two but no one needs to see the reaction he's having to the beautiful man before him.

So he just continues to sway to the melody of the song, even mumbling a few of the words he recognizes from the radio.

And then the dancer winks at him.

 _I am so screwed,_ Cas thinks.

After waving around cute LED-lit umbrellas and doing some particularly death-defying stunts above the main stage, there are a few songs in the middle where the dancers are not on stage anymore. Cas tries not to feel disappointed. Really, it's not that he dislikes the music or the way the audience's wristbands are twinkling all around him; he isn't even bothered by the stage rising up and up before rotating around over their heads, but he can't help but anxiously await the next time he gets to watch the green-eyed dancer move.

In no time at all, there are loud beats reverberating through the floor and the men are quite literally strutting back on stage. Immediately, Cas's eyes land on his favorite, now wearing a beautiful royal blue suit.

Cas tries not to read too much into the way the dancer's eyes sweep over the faces nearby before landing on his own, grinning wider and winking again when they do. Feeling a little lightheaded, Cas bobs his head and continues to move slightly with the music. It's really quite catchy.

Gabe puts his hands on Cas's shoulders and leans towards him. "Cassie, it looks like you have an admirer! Are you enjoying yourself yet?"

Cas shrugs away, ducking his head to hide the blush on his face.

When he looks up again, the dancer is watching his face thoughtfully, though now he's also glancing at Gabe and probably at Anna, too. Cas wishes he could communicate telepathically, but he cannot, so he smiles at the dancer and moves with a little more enthusiasm to the song. He's rewarded with another blinding smile, and Cas notices the dimples on either side of that perfect mouth.

Another fast and angry song gives way to a slow and soulful tune on the piano. Cas will readily admit now that he's enjoying the music; Gabe and Anna's energy is certainly rubbing off on him.

Just when he's sure that the show has ended, the singer suddenly reappears in a new outfit. Cas thinks idly about how ridiculous those purple suits the dancers are wearing would look in the light of day, particularly considering that the pants are only shorts.

This song is a clear crowd favorite, everyone shouting the lyrics and waving their arms. Cas realizes what's going to happen right before it does—the short poles with rope all along the runway suddenly make sense. Each dancer is now tethered to the platform and it's rising up above their heads.

By some stroke of luck that Cas thinks he should thank a few deities for, his favorite eye candy is now dancing almost directly in front of him.

The dancer looks so alive it's mesmerizing, breathtaking, even. His love for what he's doing is evident in every move he makes. He mouths the lyrics and claps in all the right places, and Cas feels like his chest is getting lighter just looking at this man. He's stopped caring about what the pre-teens next to him think, he won't take his eyes off of this man.

It doesn't hurt that the dancers have to turn around and face the other way, giving Cas a full view of an ass you could bounce a nickel off of, much to Gabe's apparent delight, squeezing Cas's shoulders once more.

Now the dancers are many feet above their heads, but Cas and the dancer are still watching each other. He throws Cas another wink right before the platform rotates, cutting off their eye contact. But Cas's heart is already beating so wildly he's sure it'll burst.

They all give little bows at the end, and Cas cheers loudly.

And just like that, it's over.

The Miltons sit down again, knowing there's no chance of them getting out of here for a little while yet.

He's talking with Gabe and Anna about which songs they liked best when he notices.

There's two people with their heads together standing just a few feet away, on the other side of the barrier between the audience and the runway. The man is a hulking security guard with a brown beard; he's waving a hand between the woman and the audience, clearly telling her to get a move on. The woman is much smaller but no less intimidating, wearing a badge that reads STAFF and a large headset around her neck. Her long red hair and dark eyes are moving between the huge security guard and…

_Shit, they're looking at us._

Before Cas can think to try to move away, the little redhead is right in front of him, leaning over the railing and into his face.

"Are you Gabriel Milton?"

"Uh…" Cas was so not prepared for that question. He can only blink at her, having apparently lost the ability to form sentences.

Thankfully, Gabe was paying attention. "Sorry about him, I'm Gabriel Milton and I won these tickets on a radio call. This is my sister Anna and my dear brother Castiel, who's been rendered speechless by an amazing concert." Cas glares at him.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm Charlie and I run this town." She smirks, looking between each of their faces for a moment and eyeing Cas intently. He fidgets, not sure what she's doing here exactly.

After a few moments, she seems to have made up her mind. "Okay, here's what's gonna happen." A few tickets and lanyards appear from nowhere and she passes them into Cas's hands. "These are tickets to the Sunday night performance. That's in two days, and they're way up there." She gestures to the section directly in front of the runway and way, way up. "That's the best I could do short notice, but I guarantee it's still a good show. Just a different perspective and all that. These—" she gestures to the lanyards with large colorful rectangles on the end. "—are VIP Passes. You come find Benny—" she gestures to the guard from earlier, who gives them a small salute. "—after the show and he'll get you backstage to the meet and greet, okay?"

Cas feels like his ears and mouth are stuffed with cotton. Tickets to another show? VIP Passes? Meet and greet? What—?

"I'm doing someone a favor alright? Just come again on Sunday," she says this part directly to Castiel, looking at both of his eyes before turning on her heel and walking away. Before she gets too far, Cas swears he can hear her mutter something like 'stupid blue eyes.'

Gabe and Anna won't shut up about it the whole way home.

The following morning, Cas is rudely awoken by loud knocking on his door, which then flies open as Anna rushes in.

"Cas." She plops down on top of his legs, holding her laptop tightly. "I found him!"

Dumbfounded, Cas blinks sleepily at her, then Gabe appears with his smartphone in hand.

"Cassie, your beau is really quite something." He grins wickedly. Cas just rolls his eyes.

"You guys he's not—." Anna leans on his stomach. Two years older but definitely not more mature.

"Seriously, Cas, you've gotta get a look at his Instagram!"

And for the next hour, Anna and Gabe show him the social media accounts that clearly belong to the dancer from last night—an Instagram and a Twitter filled with dozens and dozens of photos of the tall, green-eyed man: on tour, in a dance studio with mirrors all around, at a beach, singing, driving a huge black car, at an outdoor mall, with his arm around an even taller man who is helpfully identified as his brother, Sam.

The name of the man in these photos is Dean Winchester. _Dean is a nice name,_ Cas thinks and smiles to himself.

It's really, really creepy. He really shouldn't be enjoying this level of stalker behavior that his siblings incited, but it's been hours and Cas still can't get enough of that dimpled smile. The video of Dean singing and playing guitar had almost killed him. The back flips on the beach were impressive. The photos of a glamorous twenty-second birthday party ( _thank goodness I'm his age_ ) surrounded by his fellow dancers were effortlessly cool.

Cas knows very, very little about Dean Winchester so it seems ridiculous to feel so strongly about the guy, but he can't deny the connection, the electricity from Friday night. And he certainly can't deny how fast his heart beats when he thinks about Charlie's words, 'I'm doing someone a favor.'

It takes an eternity for Sunday night to arrive.

Anna had stood in his closet for several minutes, frowning at his apparent lack of 'proper attire.' She chose the black jeans and light blue button down for him, instructing him to roll the sleeves up to his elbows and leave the top buttons undone. He'd stopped her before she could put product in his hair.

Gabriel, responsible twenty-five-year-old that he is, couldn't get out of a work obligation, so Anna invited her best friend Balthazar, whose eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw the VIP Passes. The three were indeed sitting in the nosebleed section, but Cas was still so worked up that his knees shook the entire time.

Seeing the show from another perspective was cool. Now they could see the singer's and the dancers' movements at the end of the runway as well as get more of the overall visual effect. But Cas would've been lying if he had said he was paying the slightest attention to anything other than The Dancer Also Known As Dean Winchester. He watched Dean move in every number, recalling what it was like to see him dance up close, and praying that Dean wasn't seducing the person now occupying what had been Cas's seat. He told himself it was childish to think that way, but once again he couldn't deny how fast his heart beat when he saw Dean performing.

By the time the show ends once again, Cas's hands are trembling.

They make their way down to where they had seen Benny the first time. The big security guard smirks and reaches out to shake each of their hands before gesturing for them to follow as he leads them around the stadium and into the backstage area where the other VIPs are waiting.

Before long, the singer and a group of the other singers and dancers enter the room to pose for photos, sign autographs, and talk with the lucky fans.

But Dean is not there.

Cas feels like the wind has suddenly fallen out of his lungs. He meets Anna's eyes, who looks just as disappointed as he does, before turning to glance around the room. He vaguely recognizes some of the other dancers, but none of them are Dean.

Balthazar is absolutely bursting at the seams, and he and Anna move forward excitedly to say hello. Cas trails behind them and is caught off guard when suddenly one of the women he recognizes as a backup singer approaches him.

"Oh my God, you're him." She pushes her long blonde hair behind her ears as she shakes her head like she can't believe what she's seeing. "You're—. Wow. You really came back."

"I—. Yes, a woman named Charlie gave these to us." He gestures uselessly at the VIP pass around his neck. The woman just laughs.

"Of course she did, thank God for Charlie and her computer skills. She did all that and he didn't—he's not—." She turns to look around as if surprised again by the people standing around her. Her dark eyes flash and she suddenly looks quite dangerous. "Wait right here."

Cas gulps at the threatening tone of her voice and watches her dash away.

"Don't worry about Jo." Another dancer whom Cas recognizes from Friday's show (and Dean's social media) appears at Cas's elbow. "I'm Kevin," he adds. "And she's happy that you're here." Cas attempts to formulate the words for the questions in his brain like 'what are you talking about' and 'how do you know me' but it all comes to a screeching halt when Dean Winchester enters the room.

'Enters' is not the right word. 'Is violently shoved' would be more accurate.

Dean Winchester is violently shoved into the room by a very angry looking Jo. Kevin laughs and pats Cas on the back before turning to greet Anna, who looks as confused as Cas feels.

Before he has a minute to think, Cas is practically face-to-face with the man he's been ogling online for the past day. Dean is flushed, and Cas is certain that he is, too. The two simply look at each other for a long moment.

"Hey." Cas had heard his voice online, but he wasn't prepared for how nice Dean's voice sounds in real life. "You're here."

"So I've been informed," Cas replies dryly, surprising a laugh out of Dean. A laugh that Cas is sure is his new favorite sound.

"I, um, I'm Dean." He puts out his hand to shake Cas's and blushes hard.

 _He's adorable,_ Cas thinks for the hundredth time.

"Hello, Dean, I'm Castiel. You can call me Cas."

"Cas," Dean repeats as if testing out the name on his tongue. "That's a cool name." Cas's heart flip flops in his chest.

"My older brother Gabriel won our tickets to Friday's show." He doesn't know why he feels the urge to explain but he does anyway, not sure what to make of the look of pure relief that crosses Dean's face at his words. "I admit I don't listen to this music so I was a little unprepared for singing along, but it was a phenomenal show. You're a really good dancer." Wait what? He hadn't meant to say that last part out loud. But it makes Dean smile so beautifully that Cas almost says it again.

"Thanks, man, we put a lot of work into this one." Dean ducks his head, pulling at the hem of the plain black t shirt he's wearing. Cas tries not to stare at the way the sleeves cling to his gorgeous arms.

An awkward silence follows and Cas really starts to sweat.

 _Oh my God, I'm an idiot. I read way too much into this. I don't even know if he's — _Dean cuts off Cas's train of thought with a laugh that sounds almost panicked.

"This is totally weird, right? I read too much into this, didn't I?" Dean seems to shrink away, his shoulders drooping and his eyes fixed on their feet.

"No! God, Dean, no. I—I don't know how…" Cas flaps his hands nervously and hopes Dean understands.

Dean peeks at Cas from beneath ridiculously long eyelashes. "I begged Charlie to find a way for you to come back tonight." He says it quickly like he can't hold it in anymore. "I—I just—. You—." Dean slams his mouth shut and closes his eyes, his cheeks a ruddy pink and his forehead creasing in frustration.

"That was you?" Cas confirms.

"Yeah." Dean huffs, and Cas swears that those green eyes flit down to his lips, his chin, his neck. "By the end it seemed like you were enjoying yourself and—and damn it you're so h—handsome and I just—I just wanted to talk to you. And you—you actually came back." Dean meets Cas's eyes again, his smile a little bit wonderstruck.

Cas can't help but smile back at him. "Of course I came back, Dean. I wanted to talk to you, too."

Both men stand there smiling for another moment, each waiting for the other to do something. Cas thought that Dean would be the brave one, having been so flirtatious on Friday night, but maybe there's something different about the way they are now, in regular clothes, in the meeting room of a huge stadium, all anxious smiles and nervous gestures.

 _That's it,_ Cas thinks, grabbing Dean's hands in his and stepping closer. Dean smiles shyly at him, blushing all the way up to the tips of his ears. But he doesn't let go of Cas's hand.

Eight months later, Cas grabs his hands again when Dean steps out of the baggage claim.

Dean, who is terrified of flying but went overseas on tour and Skyped Cas every night. Dean, who helped Cas sign up for Instagram and Twitter so he could see Dean's photos of the beautiful places he swears they'll see together someday. Dean, who cooks delicious meals and loves his family. Dean, who is only ever confident on stage but is no longer afraid to tell Cas how he feels.

Yeah, Cas really has to thank Gabe for this.

**Author's Note:**

> I took great liberties with the "reality" of this situation
> 
> [on tumblr](http://profound-boning.tumblr.com/post/134678984529/)


End file.
